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Pacific Islands’ leaders on Wednesday backed a landmark Australia-sponsored regional policing plan, despite concerns the proposal was aimed at curbing Chinese influence in the region, Agence-France Presse reported.

At a Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) summit in Tonga, the leaders agreed to endorse a plan to open four training centers across the Pacific and create a multinational police force. Australia will provide initial funding while other nations have yet to decide whether they will contribute financially.

“This demonstrates how Pacific leaders are working together to shape the future that we want to see,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, surrounded by the leaders of Fiji, Palau, Papua New Guinea and Tonga.

The PIF hosts Australia, New Zealand and 16 other nations in the Pacific. It does not include the US or China.

Under the plan, a multinational police corps, made up of 200 personnel, will respond to major events and crises, such as natural disasters. Australia will offer a coordinating hub in Brisbane.

The plan will help Pacific nations tackle issues such as drug trafficking, Tonga’s Prime Minister Siaosi Solaveni said.

The Australian government has committed to spending $271 million on infrastructure within the first five years of the plan.

Hours before the deal was sealed, other PIF members, including Beijing allies Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, voiced concerns that the plan served Western interests because they said it limited China’s influence in the region.

“This is about the Pacific family looking after Pacific security. This isn’t about any other country,” said Albanese.

The pact came after a similar proposal by China failed in 2022. Since then, Beijing has offered Pacific nations martial arts training and Chinese-made vehicles, and signed a security deal with the Solomon Islands. The country has also posted its own police officers in Kiribati.